Opinions on Everything

In 1995 I was 13 years old and specifically remember watching all the Pay-per-view (I used to think it was paper view) boxing matches on Saturday night. JC would order the fight, have a few buddies come over, and we’d hang out and score the rounds. This was when boxing was at one of its high points with great fighters like Julio Ceasar Chavez, Ricardo Lopez, Felix Trinidad, Evander Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis just to name a few. However, there was one fighter that stood out head and shoulders above everyone else, that was Mike Tyson. When I was younger I didn’t understand his life story but in recent time I’ve read his bio, watched some videos and now have some background on Iron Mike. As a kid, my only knowledge of him was that he was released from prison and punched harder than anyone else. A scary dude.

In 1991, he was convicted of rape against 18 year old Desiree Washington and sentenced to jail for 6 years. He was out in 4 and started his comeback in 1995. This video shows a bit about his training for the Peter McNeely bout which started the point of his career that I remember.

In 1999, after crushing a bunch of tomato cans, he met up with Evander Holyfield. I’d watch each of his 4 fights leading up to this huge event and was scared for his opponent each time Iron Mike got in the ring. I remember hearing someone tell me that Mike’s favorite punch (other than knocking Robin Givens across the room) was trying to knock a person’s septum through their brain with an upper cut. So with this thought in my mind, I honestly thought I had a chance of seeing someone get killed.

The Tyson-Holyfield fight was taking place with Tyson as a 25-1 favorite and Holyfield being “over the hill” at 34 years old and was coming back from a threatening illness. Once the bell went off I thought that Mike was going to kill this guy or give him a heart attack. Here’s the video and the first 10 seconds had me mortified. I sat there pale white like Casper, fearing for Holyfield’s life. Amazingly, it never happened. Holyfield was the tougher fighter, took everything Tyson had, and ended up winning the fight and essentially ending Tyson’s career. Tyson’s next fight was a rematch that ended with the ear-biting episode which is possibly the most bizarre event in boxing.

I can’t remember at any other point of my life being more fearful of someone dying. After watching Sam’s post about the 17 year old who was diagnosed with cancer and didn’t have much time, these guys probably felt the same way.

Tom Stortz

   

My post count has been low the last few days. Mainly because I’ve doing rather than writing. With Laura’s wedding, some golf, and now JKash’s wedding, I haven’t found the time to sit and put some effort into posts. This makes sense though because in past years I would have recapped every little thing that happened in the past few days and thought that I was making a quality post. With almost 1,500 posts in the books, I have to keep up with what I believe is improving the blog. This doesn’t mean that Laura’s wedding wasn’t one of the most important things in my life, it means that I’m not a person who signs up for a marathon and has my camera out as I cross the finish line. My goal in life isn’t to get material for this blog so other people can enjoy what I have to share. A better approach, for me at least, is to make the most out of those events WHILE THEY ARE HAPPENING. So as this blog has developed, I’m trying to put more thought into the quality of the post before I just post it.

All that being said, my schedule will free up after Jon’s wedding and I should be able to concentrate on coming up with quality posts. Good posts aren’t created while your in the doing phase. They happen by coming up with a good topic and then filling it up with meaningful points and facts / ideas to back them up. Why do you think the rapitiude guy only posts once every 2 weeks? So moving forward I may be producing less posts, but hopefully better posts. I do have a feeling the new Arrested Development episodes will takeover the blog…

Tom Stortz

   

I don’t wear my hair with gel. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I have gone out with gel in my hair. Back as a little kid I used to mess around with my Mom’s mousse and spike my hair up and then think cracking it was the coolest thing. It’s not that I don’t think gelled hair can look good, it’s just not for me. My thought is that it is was trying too hard but considering all the ladies I pick up, maybe I need to try a little harder. I was thinking I should go with the feathered look.

I decided to get a haircut before the wedding to look as sharp as possible. I went to the same place I’ve been going to for the last 20 years and they had 4 of their regular barbers cutting. In my last 50 visits to this place, I’ve never have the female barber. This wasn’t anything intentional, she just wasn’t the first available person when I got there and I never seek out a barber. As luck have it this time, I got her. I could tell she was nervous at first because with so many visits and so few cuts, I could get the feeling she thought I avoid her at all costs. To top that off and add additional pressure, I told her this was for a wedding and that I needed to look good. So we talk about weddings, her travels, and other normal topics of conversation (she talked too quietly that I sometimes could only pick up 65% of what she said but it wasn’t atrocious) and as we get to the end she asks if I want to gel up my hair. I tell her that I usually keep it casual and after some debating she talked me into it. What do you think?

Tom Stortz

   

In my entire bar career I’ve never even seen an 8oz glass. Within Sam’s first year he was able to find a glass at a bar that quantifies ineptitude. It reminds me of Buster and his juice. I sort of understand the idea of not feeling like drinking a full beer but why you’d pay more for less and considering it’s only 8 oz’s of liquid, man up. People make fun of a 10 oz goblet that has high ABV, everyone will certainly ridicule the guy with an 8 oz glass. This picture should bring a smile to your face and give you a picture of a little guy ordering a little glass.

Tom Stortz

   

Wonderful video. My mind wasn’t mature enough to understand a video like this until now and it excites me to watch other videos from the group. These types of explanations can strike you different ways, at different times in your life. I may have agreed with the video 5 years ago (I’m aware it was made in 2010 but it’s a hypothetical point) but now I comprehend and see where the teacher is coming from and what direction he sees would be an improvement. The idea of conformity and teaching EVERYONE a specific way probably is not the best method in 2013. Everyone is unique and can grow and develop different ways. I’ve always been somewhat of an in the box thinker and I believe the education process teaches that. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve dismissed the ideas of conformity and doing what people expect, and have started to use my brain to make life happen the way I want it to happen. Breaking out of “the way it should be” mentality is necessary to do something that fulfills you. The biggest change for me now though is the empowering feeling I get from watching a video like this. 10 million people watched this video but how many of them will make an impact? The key difference between the 1% and everyone else is action and doing. Everyone can watch and nod their heads, but doing something about it is a completely different ballgame. This obviously doesn’t apply to just this video and education, but life as a whole.

I thought the young kids and attention drugs was spot on too. “Medication” is such a joke in this world and doctors profiting from prescribing drugs is the real motive behind this epidemic. I also thought the divergent thinking segment was fascinating when you think that kindergarten children are better at this than adults. I use a paper clip as an ear wax remover…

Tom Stortz

   

This has been an interesting week to say the least. So everyone knows, anytime someone says something is “interesting”, it’s because they can’t come up with a better descriptive word. Interesting essentially means nothing. That being said, I’m trying to kick start my life back into a normal person and I’m struggling along. After puking my guts out on Sunday, I think I strained a muscle in my stomach and now anytime I take a shit and push, my right shoulder starts bothering me. Couple that with my body feeling dehydrated and not working out for 10 days straight, I feel about 10 years older. I was able to get some miles in the last 2 days and after taking it moderately easy last night, I’m starting to return to form.

If you haven’t noticed, which I’m sure you haven’t, anytime I crank out a post like this, it’s because I don’t have any real material so I have to recount the past few days of my life to get something on the website. In terms of content this isn’t great, but I know it’s better than nothing because nothing is the worse form of output. I won’t be posting much in the next couple days because Laura is getting married and I’ll be a part of the celebration of holy matrimony. Work has been extremely busy as well which has been keeping me occupied. I’ve been getting a ton of good blog ideas that don’t make it to press but that’s ok because they are all being stored in my brain which will eventually poop it out. Keep returning because good content will be coming.

Tom Stortz

   

At dinner on Friday night, Laura asked me if I’m going to feel any different when I turn 30 in November. The easy answer is no. Although I believe life gets broken down into different segments of time, I don’t feel like age plays a major part of them. For instance, I split a segment of time when I finished the Broad St Run. I trained hard for it for a few months, did the run, then took off exercising for 10 straight days which I hadn’t done for say 6 months prior to that. My point is that I tend to break the segments in events rather than time. Laura getting married, followed by JKash, and then straight into summer would probably either end a segment or begin a new one. It frankly doesn’t matter all that much.

At dinner we talked about Danny Tanner and how he turned 30 in the very first season of Full House (he was 31 in real life). The episode write up is hilarious if you want to take a look. (Specifically this comment “This episode perplexed me every time I watched it because the way Jesse and Joey talk, they have access to Danny’s insurance payout and would use that money to buy the car. How the hell would they do that without Danny’s knowledge?”) When viewing Danny’s life, I think it’s a fair question, what the hell have I been doing for the first 30 years of my life? He has 3 kids, a big ass house (maybe from his wife’s life insurance?), a Ford Mustang, and is the news anchor on Wake Up San Francisco. Perhaps an unrealistic look at a 30 year old but still pretty impressive.

I think a lot has changed since 1987. The most obvious is the access to information. People are more informed about life decisions and make better choices that suit them. Rather than decide to have DJ at 19, people wait to have kids when they are ready. It doesn’t bother me in the least that there is a perception of when the right time to make major life decisions is. It’s what set’s everyone apart. I believe the change in how things work in a mere 30 years is also unbelievable and we are rapidly changing this world.

Tom Stortz

   

I somehow managed 22.

This is VERY FAST, so be prepared.

You only have 8 seconds for each question.

The Smarty Pants Test

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Tom Stortz

   

A brief summary of yesterday was walking over the Ben Franklin bridge, puking, walking back over the Ben Franklin bridge. You’d think at 29 I’d know how to handle myself but you’d be wrong. A few of us bought tickets to the radio 104.5 birthday concert yesterday and I had planned on attending. However, a single shot of whiskey turned that idea into a disaster. After a few pre-game beers, we bought some boxed wine and started drinking it along the walk over the bridge to the Susquehanna center. Everything was fine until I took a swig of some whiskey and it was basically lights out. We ran into Nikkii and Ck4 and once I sat down, I started getting sick from the shot. Ck4 was talking to me and I puked up the wine right into my mouth and that caused me to vomit further. I started walking back towards the lawn and puking every couple of steps, it was pretty much a nightmare. After that I had to leave because I had throw up on my clothes and wasn’t enjoying the experience. I ended up trying to catch a cab but settled on walking back. Great concert though and 36 dollars well spent.

The night before was more of a success. I went to a charity event to save the Kid’s Castle which really went off without a hitch. I ended up buying 4 rounds of golf for 250 dollars which was beneficial to all parties involved. Ck4 was rolling in the raffle tickets but it was Sammy G who took home a Wawa gift basket. I also have to mention the dinner beforehand which took place at Country Place and was my first experience of a red neck hootenanny. Cheap beers and food made for a nice place. I’m not sure they had ever seen khaki’s before or have someone order the Prime Rib. The night was an overall enjoyable experience.

This write up was something because I know I haven’t posted in a few days. Everything is good and Laura’s wedding is this week which will be more events to attend.

Tom Stortz